Sri Guru is Always Manifested

[Guest guest]

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "The body of a devotee is never material. It is considered to be transcendental, full of spiritual bliss."

 

Purport:

 

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is trying to convince Haridasa Thakura and Sanatana Goswami that a devotee who life is dedicated to the service of the Lord is never in the material conception. Because he always engages in the service of the Lord, his body is transcendental and full of spiritual bliss. One should never consider his body material, just as one should never consider the body of the Deity worshiped in the temple to be made of stone or wood. Factually, the deity is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without a doubt. The injunctions of the Padma Purana therefore state: 'That person is a resident of hell who considers the Deity worshiped in the temple to be stone or wood, who consider the spiritual master an ordinary man, and who thinks the body of a Vaishnava fully dedicated to the service of the Lord belongs to the modes of nature."

 

You see, Ksambuddhi - that is why you need to study the books with an advanced vaishnava who can help you reconcile all the seemingly contradictory statements in sastra. If the books are so easy to understand why are there so many varying and opposing conclusions being drawn from them? The answer is that until we are advanced ourselves and can draw out the proper meaning from sastra we should study under good guidance. Of course, even as we advance good guidance is needed - see quotes from CC in previous post.

[Guruvani]

 

 

You see, Ksambuddhi - that is why you need to study the books with an advanced vaishnava who can help you reconcile all the seemingly contradictory statements in sastra. If the books are so easy to understand why are there so many varying and opposing conclusions being drawn from them? The answer is that until we are advanced ourselves and can draw out the proper meaning from sastra we should study under good guidance. Of course, even as we advance good guidance is needed - see quotes from CC in previous post.

 

I am not ready to join the lastest version of the gopi-bhava club just yet.

 

I don't really feel the need to loiter around the physical form of some old Gaudiya Matha type sannaysi for my inspiration.

 

I get turned off when the Swami looks more like the Ayatollah than Rupa Goswami.

[Guest guest]

 

Sridhara Maharaja gave two reasons for not wanting to preach in the west as he was asked to by his Guru Maharaja. The first was that he reasoned that there were more qualified disciples for such a service because there were disciples who spoke english more fluently. The second, more important reason, was that he wanted to be near his Guru Maharaja as it is very rare to obtain the darshana of such a rare soul. He reasoned that he should take full advantage of his Guru's presence by hearing from him regularly and that wold not be possible in a distant land. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta accepted his reasoning and was most pleased by it.

 

Yep maybe KB should stop professing he's following and representing the conception and Will of Srila Sridhara Maharaj sending mixed messages to the readers, as he has such an extreme aversion to those who appreciate the presence of their Gurudev. By the way we are not dissmissing the vani, this is fullfilling the vani. It's not an immature competition of vapu against vani, both can be enacted at the same time.

 

I myself were attracted from a distant land by the video talks of Srila Sridhara maharajs vani that a fortunate devotee spent ages in his vapu filming. Inspiring me to go to Koladwip aparadhe bhanjan path and to take the holy dharsan of Srila Guru Maharaj, and thats where i stayed for 4 months in his loving company, and i can assure you there was no comparison reading his books in a mundane material environment to that of sitting at his holy life- giving lotus feet, where i could ask simple day to day questions on service and then go out and do that service. At the end of the day i could come home to the soothing smile of my guru maharaj, and listen to a flood of inconceivable grace to give inspiration for the next days seva. Or to stay up through the night on guard duty doing parikram around Gurudev all night in the sweet night jasmine air in front of his room, waking to do mangal arotik, with disciples he considered pure devotees. Circumambulating their Lordships, looking up to see Srila Guru maharaj's golden effulgent form awash in the morning light to the sound of transcendental praise direct to the ears of Guru, who would be worshipping the sun from his verandah, as it rose over the sacred Ganges.

 

Then perhaps having to force myself to go and sit in front of his vapu again as an endless flow of pure hari katha bathed our hearts with everfreh nectar to start another unbearable day. Maybe gardening, maybe preaching in Calcutta, collecting, or filming, receiving guests and pilgrims or maybe just chilling out with the devotees, exchanging what we were receiving from day to day planning how to extend that to others.

Next: Morning dharsan of Ganga mayi having ecstatic fun with all the neophyte vapuvadhis or some of the beautiful Navadwip dham basis.

 

It's a deluded life , but someone has to do it!

[Shakti-Fan]

 

The real question is how can anyone claim to be a fan of Sridhar Maharaja and NOT be a ritvik proponent?

Suppose the Sridhar Maharaja rtivik theory has some credence although certainly Srila Govinda Maharaja would not give it any. In fact none of the current Indian born acaryas in the Saraswat line give the rtvik theory any credence. But just for "arguments" sake suppose the theory holds true. Suppose you had some Sridhar Maharaja "Rtivik" allies, which it doesn't seem that you do. The theorectical Sridharite Rtviks would look quite different from the Prabhupada Rtviks which we all know are a signficant camp. From what I have observed over these many years is that the Prabhupada Rtviks are merely a subgroup or subcamp of what I call the "Prabhupada Only-ites". Generally the Prabhupada Only-ites dominate ISKCON and their outlook is quite literally, Prabhupada and no one else. The ISKCON Prabhupada Only-ites and the Prabhupada Rtiviks have certain beliefs in common: 1)Prabhupada's books are the law books for the next ten thousand years although it has already been shown that there is no way to substantiate that Prabhupada ever said this. 2) The jiva soul originates in Goloka not the brahmajyoti and those who preach this tatastha shakti-Brahmajyoti doctrine are covered impersonalists. 3) Prabhupada's real followers will not hear from another guru especially one of his godbrothers or their disciple for this would be disloyal to Prabhupada. 3 A) All of Prabhupada's godbrothers are absolutely useless. 4) Everything that Prabhupada said is "as it its" and their is no gradation of topics. 4 A) Prabhupada did not teach in installments even in 1966 when he was preaching to Hippies in the Lower East Side. 4 B) Therefore there is no difference between pravacana or preaching and siddhanta, spiritual conclusions 5) Prabhupada is greater than his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. 6) There is no reason to associate with a real pure devotee because you can associate with Prabhupada in his books. 7) If you don't believe that women have smaller brains than men then you are a heretic. 8) If you just chant 16 rounds a day and follow the 4 rules then you will automatically go back to Godhead. 9) It doesn't matter what form of Visnu tattva you are attracted to since they are all Krsna. 9 A) If you are attracted to Krsna then it doesn't matter whether it is Dvaraka Krsna, Mathura Krsna or Vrdavana Krsna. 10) Srimati Radharani is merely Krsna's consort or girlfriend and that's all you need to know. 10 A) Other than that any mention of Her is strictly taboo otherwise you are a sahajiya. And 11) Anyone who does not accept all these precepts is a sahajiya of the worst kind.

While claiming to be a "Sridharian" in your outlook you are allying yourself with people who believe and preach this ignorant and offensive drival. Generally you will find these viewpoints either denoted or implied in your posts. And when you are called on these things your tactic is to obsifuscate or cloud the issues by not dealing with the ideas myself and others put forth, and just jumping to another point.

[Guest guest]

Look Ksambuddhi - I am not advocating that you go any particular person and seek guidance, you do whatever you want. The point is that for anyone who truly wants to advance - good company and guidance is a necessity. Association is everything. If your not associating with devotees, and in particular advanced devotees who can help you - then who are you associating with and how will they help you? Remember Rupa Goswami and the idea of accepting things favorable and rejecting things unfavorable for devotional service?

 

Where did you get the narrow idea that the discussion about the necessity of sadhu sanga had anything to do with a particular body type or age? Why would any particular form turn you off? What was that about substance over form that you were talking about earlier?

 

I'm sorry that you just don't get it, or want to get it. The salient point is that an advanced devotee actually has feeling for Krsna and they can share that feeling with you. When you are in their presence you definitely get uplifted and feel connected by dint of their connecting with you. Have you not read the description of how Sukadeva Goswami's words had the power to penetrate the heart of the receptive audience? Do you not wonder why it is that Krsna nama heard from a suddha bhakta has the power to transform while the same name uttered by an offender can degrade a person? What was it that Srila Prabhupada said - 'milk touched by the lips of a serpent'..? We are personalists afterall, not impersonalists. Anyone who claims to be a vaishnava should always be looking for associating with advanced vaishnavas because they know how rare a pure devotee is and the benefit one can obtain by even a moments association with such a rare soul. All of our books are dripping with glorification of pure devotees and the benefit of associtating with such devotees. Denigrating those who take those instructions to heart and who have experienced the words in action shows that you really need good company - the problem is that you seem unwilling or unable to acknowledge your own condition and the possibility that there are devotees who can really help you.

[Guruvani]

 

Yep maybe KB should stop professing he's following and representing the conception and Will of Srila Sridhara Maharaj

 

Please show anywhere I have ever made such a claim?

 

The problem is, that in order to see things from the proper perspective, you sometimes have to step back a little from all the internal situations and look at things objectively.

Being all caught up in the sentiments and politics of wanting a position in some Matha or some group, does not serve truth very well.

 

What about all the little duckies lined up to succeed Govinda Maharaja and become the future leaders of Sri Chaitanya Saraswata Matha?

 

There is a whole crowd of people lining up now and vying for position in that Matha with grandiose images of themselves as the future acharyas there.

 

Can we really expect to get the the truth from the position seekers and wannabe gurus clinging to position at the Matha?

 

I don't think so.

 

To get the best perspective you have to step back and step out of that situation and cast off any desires or ambitions that can be tied to political positions and alliances.

 

That is something that none of the Mathabasis can do.

 

They want to thrust themselves into situations and position themselves for glory when Govinda Maharaja is gone.

 

I don't put much to any faith in the viewpoints of the position strategists.

 

I read the words of Sridhar Maharaja and judge for myself.

 

I really don't care what the ambitious, positioned persons of that Matha think about the ritvik concept.

 

They are positioning themselves as future holders of the BIG SEAT at the Matha, and I don't trust their motives.

 

by the way, does anybody have any good idea who the successor to Govinda Maharaja is gonna be?

 

Or, will the ritvik demon raise it's ugly head again?

[Shakti-Fan]

 

Please show anywhere I have ever made such a claim?

You certainly tried to represent the conception of Sridhar Maharaja when you rationalized your strangely concocted philosophy as, "taking a step backwards to go forwards". Anyone who doubts it including you can go back and look at that post.

by the way, does anybody have any good idea who the successor to Govinda Maharaja is gonna be?

 

This is a perfect example of raising an emotionally charged issue in order to not deal with the real issue. The real issue is that you often quote Sridhar Maharaja to suit your own purposes and then turn around and preach the exact misconceptions that he tries to break in "Sri Guru and His Grace". The only allies you have in this farce are the Prabhupada Only-ites who are the sworn enemies of Srila Sridhar Maharaja and therefore maha-aparadhis.

Anyway I am not an official member of the SCSM but just from the viewpoint of Vaisnava etiquette it is very callous to speak about the successorship to Govinda Maharaja. He has disciples who dearly love him and they are viewing these posts. Successor means the current guru leaving this world. Thats not a very happy or palatable thought for his Vaisnava disciples nor should it be for any sane person.

[Guest guest]

 

by the way, does anybody have any good idea who the successor to Govinda Maharaja is gonna be?

 

 

Yes,

Srila Govinda Maharaj said my son Giriraj Sharan Das would be his successor.

 

He also said that Premananda Das, the youngest son of your old friend from California, Prabhu Jagadananda, would be his successor. There are others as well.

 

Avadhuta Maharaj, Acharya Maharaj, Rayarama Prabhu in Turkey- in fact dozens of others in Bengal, Russia and in Western countries are qualified to become Acharya. Gurudev sees this. Gurudev says this.

 

KB, you really haven't got a clue about what is happening within the association of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

 

Stop talking about this now and go and chant Hare Krishna.

[Guest guest]

then you will find yourself getting "dragged out of the Math" with no chance of ever entering inside.

So it's basically the same as ISKCON. If someone disagrees then beat them and throw them in the street.